


Guiding Light

by NanakiBH



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Angst, Awkward Crush, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Secret Identity, Speculation, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:55:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22724281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NanakiBH/pseuds/NanakiBH
Summary: He was tired of fighting, but he hadn't given up yet.
Relationships: Demyx/Xigbar (Kingdom Hearts), Luxu/Master of Masters (Kingdom Hearts)
Kudos: 26





	Guiding Light

**Author's Note:**

> Recently, I discovered what seems like [a pretty major connection](https://nanakibh.tumblr.com/post/190692411243/i-posted-this-in-all-caps-bc-i-was-screaming) between Daybreak Town and Akademeia from Final Fantasy Type-0. I had some suspicions, so it was a weirdly affirming discovery. I initially started to get the sense that there might be a connection when I noticed that there's a character who looks/acts/sounds exactly like Demyx. So now I'm kind of convinced that Jack is Demyx's Somebody and that they're the Master of Masters. It's such a weird coincidence otherwise. I get the feeling the MoM has taken after Mother. Is he a l'Cie? Did he become Agito? Only time will tell... (But dang, the Limit Cut episode sure made this look like a real possibility.)
> 
> If you've played Type-0, then you know that the song I'm referencing in this is Zero by Bump of Chicken. If you decide to look it up, be careful of spoilers.
> 
> Don't worry, even if you've never played Type-0, you'll still understand this - but I really recommend the game anyway. It's basically M-rated khux.
> 
> Oh, and happy Valentine's Day!

Luxu carefully turned the pages of the book he was reading. It was just him and the Master, but the Master had been quiet for a long time with his cheek in his palm, his gaze fixed on the Book of Prophecies. Either he was intensely focused on a thought or he was actually falling asleep. His hood made it difficult to see his face, so Luxu couldn't tell. His eyes could have been closed.

The thought made him smile to himself, and for a moment his thoughts were distracted from the page he'd been reading. He knew that even if he were to suddenly speak, the Master wouldn't have been bothered.

Nevertheless. Even though he enjoyed their conversations, Luxu couldn't think of anything worth saying, so he kept his lips sealed and tried to return his attention to the book he'd borrowed.

He quietly turned back to the first page, then to the last, looking for a date of publication. There didn't seem to be one. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the text was all handwritten, though it was so neatly printed, it was nearly impossible to tell it apart from something that had been typed. The book had been kept in immaculate condition, but its pages were delicate and fragile with age.

There were many books like that on the Master's shelf – ones that felt too valuable for him to be casually leafing through. They deserved to be in a museum or something where they could be given the admiration they deserved.

Was it a book the Master had written? Or was it another relic from the past?

Ever since the Master told him about his past, he couldn't get it off his mind. For some reason, it felt like there was a whole history unknown to everyone.

Daybreak Town was a town filled with young keyblade wielders.

He couldn't think of many adults besides the Master...

Perhaps it was one of those things no one really thought about, but it seemed very strange to him. By the sound of it, the world had already met its end before. The keyblade war that was coming wasn't the first. For how many keyblade wars had that book been sitting on the Master's shelf? Something told him he wasn't going to find out the answers to his questions any time soon. He had so many questions, though.

It wasn't necessary for him to know.

Although it seemed certain that the Master was withholding important things, Luxu trusted that those things weren't necessary for them to know in order to move forward. The Master knew what was best for them. Unfortunately, nothing was going to stop the end from coming again. If he'd known of a way, he would have already taken the measures to prevent it. He wouldn't have gone out of his way to make so many other preparations.

Still...

Luxu was curious.

He wanted to know all that there was to know about him.

_“I want to know more about you,”_ he wanted to say. _“Please, tell me about yourself.”_

And the Master, he probably wanted to tell him. That was the sort of feeling Luxu got. It was just, for the time, for one reason or another, the things he could tell him were limited.

Something suddenly drew his attention; the sound of tapping – the drumming of the Master's fingers on the surface of his desk. It was too rhythmic, too rehearsed to be something he spontaneously made up. Luxu listened until the drumming abruptly ceased, but no part of it had seemed familiar to his ears.

“What was that?” he asked, too curious to stay quiet.

The Master looked up, letting out a small sound as if he'd been startled. Maybe he hadn't even realized that he'd been doing something.

“Just an old song,” he said hastily without turning around. “Nothing special.”

“That must mean it's pretty old.”

“H-hey!”

Luxu couldn't help but laugh at the Master's flustered reaction. Even if he were just pretending to be offended, it was still cute. His comment got the Master to turn around, but he still couldn't see his face. A shame. He wanted to see if he was blushing.

“Does it have words?” Luxu asked.

The Master tilted his head to the side in thought and stroked his chin. “Yeah, it does. I think I remember... I heard someone sing it, once.”

“Who'd you hear it from?” he asked, eager to hear anything about someone from the Master's past. For some reason, he imagined that everyone from the past had to be just as incredible as he was.

“Just a classmate of mine,” he said with a casual toss of his hand. “And he learned it from someone else, so who really knows where it came from?”

“Somehow, it's always shocking to hear you talk about things that happened when you were young...”

A classmate...

That meant the Master had gone to school...?

It really surprised him when the Master told him about things from his youth. In his mind, he'd already accepted that the Master must have existed since a time before time. In a way, he seemed like a legendary creature that had been born from the very heart of the world. It was hard to imagine that he had ever been younger, less experienced, not as powerful. Luxu couldn't believe that he and the Master had shared common experiences like _going to school._ It just sounded so weird.

So then, what the heck were his 'classmates' like?

Luxu nervously chewed on his bottom lip for a moment, wringing his hands as he debated whether it was appropriate to ask about them. However, he sensed that the Master already knew what he wanted to ask, so he made himself spit it out.

“I thought... you said that you were the only one who mattered...?”

“That's what I said. Good memory.” He made a gesture at himself. “As you can see, I'm still here and they're not. So they hardly seem worth mentioning, no?”

At first, Luxu was rendered speechless. He really didn't know what to think, surprised that the Master would act like they were unimportant. It wasn't like he knew them, so he had no way of knowing what they were like, but he thought it was unusual for the Master to act that insensitive.

But after a moment, he started to understand.

That was how he always was.

“So anyway, do you wanna hear the words or not?”

“Huh?” Luxu blinked, confused for a second. When he remembered, he nodded emphatically. “Yes. Please, if you would.”

The Master sat up, straightening his back. “I'm no vocalist, so don't blame me if I sound bad, okay?”

Luxu smiled encouragingly and sat on the edge of his seat, anxious to hear the words to this ancient song.

Despite the self-deprecation the Master prefaced with, Luxu was startled by what a nice voice he had.

Warm... Melodic...

With each word, he could hear the sincerity that came from his heart.

Luxu listened and paid close attention, hoping to memorize the words for himself.

_“Walk on wandering souls_  
_For your respite we pray_  
_Let our humble song clear your hearts of dismay,_  
_Rekindle the flame in your souls and set you free_  
_So walk on and become the light that guides the way”_

His singing ended sooner than Luxu expected. It felt like as soon he had started, it was already over.

“Is there more?” he asked.

The Master gave a shrug of one shoulder. “Yeah, there's more, but the rest of it is kinda depressing, if you ask me. You don't want me to be sad, do you? So let's leave it there. I like that part.” From underneath the shadows of his hood, Luxu caught the faintest smile on his face as he added, quietly, “That was the part he liked, too.”

To have remembered that song for so long...

It must have been very important to him.

“Do you miss them? Is that why you think it's better for the wielders to forget all about the war?”

“You sure are making a lot of assumptions. What is this, Twenty Questions?”

“S-sorry...”

Yeah. That was probably too presumptuous of him...

But, even so.

He could tell that the Master was only smiling to hide something else, just like always. He may have been the strongest person in the world, but he was still a person, wasn't he? He still had a heart like anyone else, didn't he?

Adopting an air of seriousness, the Master folded his hands in his lap and directed his gaze solemnly to the floor.

“I could easily erase the existences of the dead from the memories of everyone who survives the war if I wanted. Living would be easier without that sadness in their hearts, wouldn't it? You wouldn't have to mourn a friend if you didn't even remember who they were. But I already know how that ends. If people forget that pain, they forget why lives are valuable, and they forgot their humanity.” He clenched his fingers. “It only makes it easier for war to continue.”

The Master told them that their keyblades were for fighting the darkness – in whatever form it took. Nothing else. They weren't instruments of war.

The thing he wanted them to forget was war itself.

Perhaps that was what he really wanted...?

A world where war was no longer something inevitable...

It almost sounded impossible. Luxu had no idea how they could ever eliminate the darkness. In all of the Master's years, in all of the many iterations of the world he must have seen, the darkness had always returned, rekindling the flames of war. It was no wonder the Master was exhausted. And yet, he still managed to be hopeful, at least for everyone else's sake.

“Master, you're always smiling, but... It's only on the outside, isn't it?”

“Whoa, déjà vu!” He laughed unconvincingly. “I'm pretty sure someone else said the same thing to me, once upon a time.”

So, he really had always been that way.

Although he was nervous, Luxu rose from his chair and approached him. He yielded, giving the Master the time to perceive what he wanted to do and to give him the chance to stop him if he wanted. When that moment passed without a word, Luxu clutched the confidence his silence gave him and took one more step forward, leaning down to wrap his arms around his shoulders, holding him in what he hoped was a comforting embrace.

He was still quiet.

Luxu wondered what sort of face he was making then.

He didn't always have to smile.

Luxu wanted to tell him that, but the words got stuck in his throat.

“There haven't been many people who understand me the way you do, Luxu.”

“M-maybe it's a matter of perspective. I don't know if I'd say I understand you...”

“I think you'd be surprised,” he said, resting his forehead against Luxu's shoulder. “I'm not that complicated.”

Luxu was only half-listening. It was hard to pay attention when all he could hear was the sound of his own heart pounding in his ears. He couldn't believe that the Master was seriously resting his head on his shoulder. He was acting so sweet and vulnerable. Luxu was sure that the other Foretellers had never seen him like that. It was a big win.

How much farther could he push his luck?

If he tried to pull back his hood, the Master probably wouldn't have liked that...

“Y-you know... I think that song sounded like it was about you,” he said. It almost sounded prophetic, or maybe the Master just let it inspire him. He was certainly the world's guiding light.

“You think so?” He pulled away and reached up, placing one of his large palms on the top of Luxu's head.

His words neither agreed nor disagreed with him. There was just a vague sense of uncertainty.

The only way Luxu could think to respond was to give him a smile.

When he did so, he realized that maybe he really did understand the Master better than he thought.


End file.
